Intensifying business success of Malaysian housing development firms through entrepreneurial learning

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impacts of entrepreneurial learning on the performance of Malaysian private housing developers. Although the extant literature on learning epistemology is quite voluminous, the focus within the housing entrepreneurship remains limited. With this lacuna, the investigation on the perceptions of learning propensity among residential developers is deemed timely. Design/methodology/approach Using snowball sampling, interviews were conducted with ten perceived successful private housing developers in Malaysia to understand the antecedents and consequences of entrepreneurial learning in steering their business toward excellence. Findings The research outcomes revealed that all the interviewed respondents concurred with the importance of entrepreneurial learning within the organization to strive for business success. The interviewed housing developers highlighted the significance of learning interest in their daily works to achieve business competitiveness and gain competitive edge against rivals. Through continuous learning, positive ideas and ethos could be instilled within the uncertain business environment. Research limitations/implications From an empirical standpoint, the sample was limited to private housing developers in one country. This limits the scope of generalization. Further studies, comparing between public and private developers in multiple contexts should be undertaken. Besides that, the research is based on a relatively small sample of ten respondents and the use of snowball sampling may have meant that the respondents would only tend to present a particular view of the industry. Practical implications The results raise interesting impacts on business success for scholars and entrepreneurs to ponder upon. The research contributes new knowledge about the effects of entrepreneurial learning toward the competitiveness of housing developers, by looking at the whole aspects of development process. A better understanding on how business knowledge could be retrieved from the perspectives of Malaysian housing developers is posited to be pragmatically employed. Originality/value Concomitantly with the above proposition, the study offers a novel insight into learning capabilities of Malaysian private housing developers that may be useful for global references. Understanding firm’s resources and capabilities is emergent that warrants further clarifications on entrepreneurial learning within housing development firms. The paper successfully illuminates comprehensive issues that have responded to this shortfall.